Actress Hayley Tamaddon says positive thinking really is The Secret to her success, and by "wishing" for things they often come true.

Former Coronation Street and Emmerdale star Hayley, 41, swears by a self-help book of that name and credits it with making good things happen, as author Rhonda Byrne’s tome suggests visualising your goals can make them happen.

Hayley envisioned appearing on Dancing On Ice – then went on to win the TV show in 2010 and her latest wish of appearing in a movie came true with a leading role in new Brit flick Eaten by Lions.

Hayley won the fifth series of Dancing on Ice in 2010 alongside skate partner Daniel Whiston (Image: ITV)

And next on her wishlist is dance show Strictly.

Hayley says: “I like to ­manifest things, I’m a big believer in The Secret and I try to live my life in a really positive way with no negativity.

“I read The Secret and manifested [Dancing on Ice] in 2009, I wrote it all over my fridge, I stuck pictures of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean everywhere and, in 2010, I won it. Then I talked for a long time about doing a film.

“I’d say to myself, ‘That’s what’s coming next’ – and then this came in and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s happened’. I was over the moon.”

The star played Andrea Beckett in Corrie until 2015 (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Hayley has more movie roles in her sights and, on taking part in Strictly, she adds: “I'm hoping one day I can manifest that too.

“I would never say ‘no’ to learning a skill. I really like a challenge.”

The star is famed for playing Delilah Dingle in Emmerdale and Andrea Beckett in Corrie – and says she would return to either soap “in a heartbeat.”

“Emmerdale taught me everything about how to work quickly in TV, but I think my heart lies with Corrie,” she adds.

“I found my feet there and I’m still best friends with so many of them.

Hayley as Delilah Dingle in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)

“We see each other every week to the point where the directors invite me to things and say ‘It’s like you never left, we see you all the time’.

“My best friend is Dan Brocklebank [Corrie vicar Billy] – we’ve been friends for years.

“And Sue Cleaver [Eileen Grimshaw] and Beverley Callard [Liz McDonald] took me under their wing when I first joined Coronation Street. Sue housed me for the first month I was there.

“It’s a family at Corrie and I feel lucky I can still go to the pub across the road and they’re all there, they all open their arms to me. It feels like I never left.”

The actress has more movie roles in her sights (Image: Getty)

Hayley believes she gets comedy roles because she has a “funny face”. But she would love to do more drama.

She plays the matriarch in Eaten by Lions, a contemporary comedy about two brothers who go in search of their ­biological father.